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Looking for a BMW 2002 calendar? I have a limited run of High Quality 8.5" x 11" Wall Calendars for sale. Perfect Christmas gift to yourself or to the 2002 fanatic in your life.
Only US $30 including Shipping
if you are in Canada, $30CAD including shipping
Paypal or E-transfer!

Back again to update my project blog. Haven't done a thing to the 2002 except enjoy it. Put just over seventeen thousand km this summer. Don't have too much planned for this winter other than BBS and maybe just a little lower. Now on to the real reason of this update! I am the lucky owner of a 1973 Inka Sunroof Touring! Such a cool car. I can't get over it! The previous owner bought it in 1985 when he was stationed in Germany and drove it a few years before shipping it to Canada. He recently decided to let it go. Its a fairly solid car. Has typical rust but is complete and well worth getting on the road once again. I need some opinions! The plan would be to semi restore it. Meaning fix the rear struts and rockers but leaving the paint and enjoy it as with loads of Patina then in a few years fully repaint and redo the car. What would you do? None of it is original paint and the rust does need to be fixed to drive it. Here is some pictures, hope you guys enjoy.

Hello once again!
I haven't posted for a little while but recently passed 10,000km on the 2002 and figured I should update the build! Other than a coolant hose failing (my fault) and the bottom of my Recaro seat collapsing (I hope not my fault.) it has been smooth sailing. Haven't done too much to the car other than enjoy it. Here is some of my adventures...

So relativitely small update! Got my 71 dash pad in. The 71 dash doesn’t have the “fasten seat belt thing. It isn’t crack free but I think its an improvement. Also bought an MSD tach converter to change the signal so I could use the original Tach, works great! I then bought a speed hut gps speedo. I didn’t make any holes to mount it in and the reason I did that is for a future speedo plan. I heard that you can power an original speedometer with a GPS unit. So I am on the hunt for a pre 74 220km speedo that I can send off and have something that doesn't stick out. As for now, this one will do. Works good and the antenna is hidden under the dash. I haven’t had any problems losing signal yet, and it came equipped with cool options like altitude, 0-60 times and maximum speed. Lately I have just been enjoying the car. On the side I have working on some BBS. Can not wait for these wheels to be done… More to come!
Here is the original gauges and 72 dash

I’m trying to catch up a little now, I registered and insured it recently and have been driving it around as much as possible! I have had Recaro seats out of a mk2 jetta for a while and finally got some brackets to make the install possible. I was worried about the seats looking completely out of place in this car but it works good and man are they ever comfortable! Anyone interested in putting these seats in your car need the power seat versions as they have the six bolt recaro bases where as the manual VW recaros are vw specific. Also cleaned up the rear seat and finally put it in! This car sat inside and the interior really cleaned up nice.

Another thing that bugged me was the 2002’s original licence plate mounting position. When you mounted a plate it would cover the trim between the tail lights and leave a gap between the plate and the bumper. I didn’t want to drill holes and a licence plate bracket off a Mercedes actually works perfectly. I found that on the forum, so thank you! I took a picture of the part number for any other 2002 owners out there. It is super easy! I welded the bolts in place so I do not have to wiggle my hands in behind trying to tighten them to make it even easier. Also I did some research and in Alberta you can legally register your car under a vintage plate. So needless to say…..

Wiring! I cleaned up the engine wiring harness connector by ordering a BMW c101 Chasis side connector and the factory pins.

Just got some parts back form the powder coaters, including my 75 modified windshield washer fluid bottle holder. I moved this out of the stock location just to clean up the engine bay a little. I had to cut this bracket up to move the bottle out of the way of my throttle cable. The bottle itself is out of a 80’s Audi I think.

After driving it a bit I realised the stock radiator wasn’t cooling the engine as well as I had hoped. This three row, aluminium radiator seems to work well so far. This May long weekend was a warm one and it didn’t overheat. I’ll consider that a success!

Its been a little while but I’ve been busy! The 2002 is almost done. Not sure if projects are ever “done” but its finally at a point where I can enjoy it, which is kinda nice. Although I might miss fixing stuff here and there, maybe… Anyway first things first. I installed the front bumper. Powder coated the brackets and plated the bolts. Anyone who has fitted a front 2002 bumper knows that it is a pain. Its almost necessary to install the brackets first and make sure you have a magnet on some tie wire to catch the bolts, not if, but when they fall into the frame rail. I also came across some 73 bumper over riders which look a little sharper in my opinion.
I then went to work on the interior. Namely putting in a sound system. I like my tunes so I didn’t want to settle. The 80’s were a time when people cut 6x9’s into everything and this 2002 was driving in the 80’s. For a purist, having speaker holes cut by an angry badger would not be ideal, for me I was happy to have them already there. However I didn’t want to drill any holes anywhere else in the body for speakers so I had to be creative. I put a component system in the front and for the drivers side subwoofer I made for little brackets all bolted in factory locations to keep it in place. For the passenger side I got a little controversial and made a hole in the glove box. I had a spare so I wanted to experiment. The glove box is actually sturdy enough and holds it nicely. The crossover’s are mounted in the wooded support block in-between the centre console panels. For the tweeters I drilled holes in the centre console. I also have a mint spare so figured why not. The deck itself is mounted in a cut up ash tray mount and looks fairly factory. I am curious to hear what people think, as there is many ways to do this.
The trunk has these wooden floor boards covered in vinyl. The 45 year old vinyl wasn’t looking too fresh so I decided to remove the vinyl and see what the wood underneath looked like. I know there is no other wood on the car and these might look out of place however I experimented with some wood stain and am very pleased the results! Happy with fuel lines too, looks clean! Getting there…

Got the throttle cable situation sorted. I wanted to use the original M42 cable but it was much to short. I decided after much thinking to use half of the original 2002 linkage as well to solve this shortness. The 2002 originally has a metal rod thats attached to the pedal arm goes up to a pivot point attaches to another metal rod that when twisted turns the throttle on the carb. I cut the end off the rod to the transmission and welded a washer on the end. A grommet goes in the washer and the end of the m42 cable fits snuggly in. A bracket to hold and guide the system is bolted on to the original 2002 throttle bracket pivot mounts. I still have to get it cleaned up and powder coated but it works nice! I used the longer Ireland engineering 5 speed conversion clutch line as well as the stock is too short. Oh, also It moves now. Not by me pushing it either! I took it on the maiden voyage just yesterday. Very excited. It pulls good and sounds great too. Cannot wait for this summer…..

Hello again,
I finally rebuilt the brakes! New pads, and rotors as well! Also A little tip for anyone rebuilding stuck brakes. Attach a grease nipple to the brake fluid line and use a grease gun to pump the stuck pistons out. Works great! If you use an air line the pressure will build up until it breaks lose and probably damage something. I actually thought it would be a good idea to paint the brakes before taking them apart so I wouldn’t have to mask anything. Well from rolling the callipers around and spilling brake fluid on them I had to redo them. Turned out good in my opinion. I will most likely do an upgrade to either Volvo brakes or the Wilwood big brake kit in the future.

So I’ve lately been working on the exhaust. This took me a while to say the least. When I installed the original M42 header it interfered with my steering and since steering is kind of convenient I had to modify the header. The path of least resistance seemed to be to cut the header flange off and the down pipe flange and position them in the spot I wanted, weld little bars to hold them in place. Then cut pipes from another header and make them fit. The next challenge was the down pipe. It had to line up to the header, avoid the steering, have a flex-joint, have an 02 sensor and mate up to the original 2002 exhaust. Easier said then done! Here is the pictures. I actually haven’t driven the car just yet. I am waiting on a clutch line then I have to bleed the entire brake and clutch system. I hope to go for my maiden voyage soon…

Hey guys,
I got the front suspension together and installed! Bilstein sport shocks and ireland engineering Stage 1 springs. Also installed new wheel bearings and brake rotors. I have yet to install the brakes as I will be rebuilding them but I couldn’t resist lowering the car back on its wheels once again. In my next post this car should be running! I still have to make an exhaust and I need your advice. I am going to be using a performance “stock 2002” exhaust and them just modifying the headers to fit. Has any had experience with this? Should I go stainless or mig weld them and get ceramic coated? Let me know what worked for you!

Everyones favourite part! Wiring…
This is my first engine swap and believe it or not I was actually excited to be at the wiring stage. There is many write ups on wiring and I read my fair share. At the moment I believe it is 100% wired in. Key word “believe”. I haven’t put power to it just yet. I’m still waiting on a few things. Also I want the car on four wheels before I attempt to start it. Since I used the entire M42 wiring harness there is basically only a few wires to plug in.
Main power to starter
Ignition switch
Tach
Ground
Fuel Pump
Alternator Charge control
Oil pressure
I am not going to post my exact wiring shenanigans until it is running and running good. For those interested I will probably do an in-depth M42 swap guide.
Also bought Hella H4 headlights and redid my grill. Just black trim paint for the slats and for the anodised aluminium I used super fine steel wool and wd-40 to polish it. It still has lots of pitting but I am very happy with result.
I will tidy up this connection, but for now I have to make sure its correct!

Hello again,
This past weekend was full of activity. I have the M42 officially bolted in, hopefully for good! The transmission and driveshaft are also bolted in and my shifter is finished as well. Here are some pictures of the process. I didn’t take too many pictures of the shifter build but it was a lot of work! I used the original 2002 shifter housing and shifter but had to shorten the housing about two inches. I then cut the linkages in half and used half the e30 linkage and half the 2002 linkage and shortened it the same two inches. The original E30 shifter mount was too high and I didn’t want to weld the tunnel…. so I cut off the E30 shifter mount and now had to somehow bolt this new assembly on. There was two holes beside the shifter selector shaft that I tapped holes in, made little adapters and bolted the whole thing together! I am quite pleased with result! My transmission bracket also requested some creativity as I didn’t want to weld any brackets to the body but instead use the original mounts. The original e30 mount didn’t work at all, so naturally I cut it up. I used only the mounting holes off of it and welded a piece of metal bracket underneath to support it. I couldn’t use the e30 or 2002 rubber mounts so I decided to use the original sway bar end link bushing. I think it worked out great! Speaking of sway bars, I purchased a much thicker Ireland engineering one (22mm). However the original sway bar actually mounts in front of the engine and this aftermarket one is underneath. The m42 is a tall engine and I was nervous to do the install… It didn’t fit. If the engine was a smidge further forward it would be fine. That would demand recreating all of my mounts and shifter linkages, so naturally the only other way is down! I added a small spacer to the sway bar mounts and shaved my oil pan a little. Its very close still and I will have to have the car running before I can firmly decide wether or not it’ll do, but for now I am very happy with it! It was such a pleasure to use basically all new/ clean/ redone parts. Everything bolted together smoothly and even my “custom” shifter lined up beautifully.
Here is my shifter, the linkage on top is half 2002 and half e30. And here is the entire assembly dissembled.

Here is my transmission bracket, and with the sway bar bushing installed.

The engine all ready to go in! Can’t tell you guys how happy I am to be at this stage.

Its close!
Now to mount my radiator and wire it all in.... Thanks for watching!

Small update.
Just got some parts from the powder coaters. Super happy with the work! If you are in Calgary AB go to Topgun Powdercoaters! I por15’d the rear suspension components so It’ll be a good test to see which holds up better. I suspect the powder coating will. I also spend many hours scrubbing down the inside of the hood and touching up the engine bay. Its ready for a final install. Can not wait!
Here is the before of my engine mounts
Here you can see them in the top
Putting bushings in. Always put the rubber part in first…
Nice and original engine bay. Not bad for 45 year old paint.
M42 should be ready to be installed for good..... Hopefully.

Update! I got the M42 bolted in! For me at least, this is crazy progress. I made some relatively rough measurements of the m42 in the subframe outside the car. Then proceeded to make engine mounts and bolted it in! I had to change the mounts a little to get the engine to exactly where I wanted, however overall wasn’t too complicated. There definitely is satisfaction to building something yourself. I made sure the M42 was exactly where it needed to be then made transmission mounts, shifter brackets and driveshaft mounts. Then tore it all out to clean and paint! The engine bay I am leaving original paint. I want this car running and driving in three months and do not want to have to strip fresh paint to weld a bracket or something like that. Three months is coming up quick! Hopefully it’ll be going by then….
This is the current state of the 2002. Lots of work ahead…

Hello,
Finally got the M42 all together and it looks awesome. I do think that the engine should look nice in the 2002, not too out of place! Some people sand the raised lines of the valve cover and that looks good in my opinion however I also like the solid black. What are your guys thoughts? Thanks

Got the old M10 out! Now to clean the engine bay and stick the M42 in. Can’t wait!

So recently I knocked a big to-do off the list! Get the rear end together and the car back on all four. Check. I had most of the parts ready so when some much needed parts arrived in the mail, I could have that goal reached in no time. The plan is to go on relatively long drives so its not going to be super low, with that being said I wanted a more aggressive stance than the stock ”4x4” look. I went with Ireland Engineering stage 1 springs. They drop the car about an 1.5”. The final pictures show the height. Hopefully it settles a bit when there is more weight in the back however it won’t be too far off I assume. As for the rest of the rear end. E21 3.91 Limited slip differential, Ireland engineering 22mm sway bar, E21 Rear brake drums, Bilstein Sport shocks, and new stiffer bushings! Should handle a treat! Here is some pictures of the assembly process. Also! I have a question, I have read about the Turbo E-brake cables... Are these necessary? Mine seem to be a little short with the e21 drums. What have you guys done? Thanks!! More to come...

Hello again,
Since my suspension order won’t be shipped for some time I decided to tackle the engine. The new heart is an M42. An inline 4, Dual overhead cam, 16 valve engine from a 1991 BMW 318is. Now although Webbers and a Cam can make the same power from the original engine and it would be super cool, I wanted something dependable and something that I could upgrade in the future to make even more power. The engine was looking a little gross and although I am probably not painting the engine bay, the engine itself definitely needed to be painted. So here is the original engine and its home for the last 45 years. Yikes, 45 years! These cars are getting old….

Here is its replacement!

And so begins the tear down.
Painted the block with POR15, turned out alright
Crazy rough casting on the valve cover. All solved by a quick trip to the sander.

Here is some of parts that needed. I just have to sandblast and paint the timing chain covers and oil pan, then pick up my bolts from the platers and throw it all together! I still have lots of work ahead!

So I did a little bit of putting stuff together. Here is all the parts a rear brake and control arm assembly consists of. And then all nicely together! Looks way easier in pictures! The wheel bearings were not fun too install…

The parts are accumulating…

Here the 02 sits patiently waiting for even more parts. I figured I may as well do some polishing and put some trim on the car. Got a new classic style Bmw badge for the front as well. Looks awesome! Way better than the sticker that was on it before. Crazy how dusty stuff gets though….More to come…

Some of you who watched the video might have noticed a subtle battery bracket and hold down clamp in the trunk. I figured there might not be room in the engine bay after the engine swap so I decided to mount it there. At the moment I am just getting all the rear suspension components painted and ready to be installed. The diff on the left is a 3.91 Limited slip out of a E21 320is. The diff itself bolts in, however to do the swap you have to take the cover off a 2002 and adapt to the bigger CV joint holes. My 72 had an unvented cover, so I took a vented cover off a 75. Next you have to drill holes to mount the CV or change half of the CV’s to that from the E21.The e21 diff has m10 bolt holes and the 2002 cv’s are m8. See the problem? I am going to drill in the diff, this way I can always buy new cv joints and just bolt them right in, instead of having to make “special” CV joints out of a e21 and a 2002. Also I am going with the e21 rear drum brakes as well. They bolt right on and are 250mm which is an improvement over the 230mm stock 2002 drums. As you notice ALL the nuts and bolts went to the plater, and I mean ALL. I did get a little carried away but it is so shiny!
Here is the limited slip on the left, If you look super carefully you will notice that it is incredibly gross. Notice the vented cover on the 2002 diff on right. And of course the magical S on the tag! Last picture is an unvented cover.
I had the parts sandblasted and then brushed on POR15. I have heard only good stuff about the product however I am not totally happy with the look, but if it holds up that is more important! I am sure if it was sprayed it would have turned out better. Here is the stock 2002 drum inside the e21 drum
Here is the finished Limited Slip. Pretty happy with the look, I did go a little crazy with getting bolts plated….
Christmas presents to myself are the best! How did I know? Recaros…. The interior is slowly coming together! More to come...

Just finished up some rust work in the trunk and rockers so may as well show progress. The strut towers on these cars rust from the inside out so I had to cut out way more than it looked like but the inner tower was super solid so I did not touch it! I fabricated the patch from the roof of a scrap car and am pleased with the results.

I also got all the nuts and bolts zinc dichromate plated which I highly recommend to anyone else dealing with rusty bolts!
Also notice that hideous steering wheel? It was necessary to replace it with the legendary Momo Prototipo. This car actually would originally have had a thin three spoke wheel but it was long gone!
When everything was nicely apart I decided it would be a good idea to polish the paint. It would have been repainted 20+ years ago but it looks amazing! Heres where it sits as of today. I still have to get the BBS RM's redone. I'm thinking of going with a gun-metal metallic. What do you guys think? Should I stick with the black?